The present invention is directed to an improved ruminant animal mineral supplement and animal feed, and particularly one containing effective amounts of sulfur and garlic for insect repellency.
In the prior art, it is well know to provide mineral supplements to ruminant animals. One reason for this is that minerals are important in antler development, and an animal""s diet does not always supply the necessary minerals for optimum antler growth.
As such, it is common for many hunters and landowners to establish mineral licks on their property, providing that such are permitted by law.
Besides antler growth, studies have shown that mineral supplementation increases forage uptake, improves forage digestion, and increases reproductive success.
An example of a mineral supplement is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 6,244,217 to Robbins, herein incorporated in its entirety by reference.
While mineral supplements provide significant improvements in the health of ruminant animals, insects continue to be a problem for animal health. Internal and external parasites have plagued deer and cattle for centuries. These pests reduce weight gain, and increase stress for the animals.
Accordingly, there is a need to provide improved insect repellants for use on ruminant animals.
The present invention solves this need by providing an insect repelling mineral supplement and/or feed that contains effective amounts of garlic and sulfur.
While it is know to use garlic powder as a feed additive for livestock, U.S. Pat. No. 5,268,357 to Yabiki et al., there is no suggestion of its use in mineral supplements for insect repellency. Yabiki et al. also do not teach the use of garlic and sulfur as part of a feed.
The Robbins patent discloses a mineral supplement that suggests that sulfur be present. However, Robbins does not exemplify a mineral supplement with sulfur, the nutrient lists do not show any sulfur. At most, the sulfur in the Robbins supplement would be in amounts to supply the needs of the animal""s for health and nutrition, similar to an RDA in vitamins, e.g., generally a trace amount compared to the other main constituents of the supplement (a micro mineral as compared to a macro mineral). However, this patent does not identify amounts, nor suggest that the sulfur be in amounts for insect repellency.
Other feed supplements employ sulfur, see U.S. Pat. No. 3,794,740 to Achorn et al., but in the form of ammonium sulphate and levels of 0.33% by weight.
It is a first object of the present invention to provide an improved mineral supplement or animal feed for ruminant animals.
Another object of the invention is a mineral supplement or feed that provides insect repellency.
One other object of the invention is a method of repelling insects from ruminant animals by modifying a mineral supplement or animal feed through the addition of effective amounts of garlic and sulfur.
Other objects and advantages of the present invention will become apparent as a description thereof proceeds.
The invention entails improvements in mineral supplements, particularly mineral licks for deer. The improvement comprises having the mineral supplement contain an effective amount of garlic and sulfur for insect repellency. The mineral supplement mineral supplement can be either solid, liquid, or powder, and when in solid form, is preferably in the form of a mineral lick. It is preferred that the mineral supplement contains at least about 25% by weight of salt content, and more preferably a majority of salt.
The invention also entails a method of repelling insects for ruminant animals by adding an effective amount of garlic and sulfur to a ruminant animal mineral supplement; and placing the mineral supplement in one or more locations that are accessible by the ruminant animals. The mineral supplement as the solid, liquid, or granular and is preferably placed in the wild location such as a forest, or the like.
It is preferred that the garlic and sulfur amounts are at least 0.1% garlic and 0.5% sulfur on a weight basis of the supplement. The sulfur percentage is based on elemental sulfur, so that the amount of compounds containing other elements than sulfur may exceed the 0.5% elemental sulfur target. The garlic could range from at least 0.1% to up to 5%, more preferably up to 2.0% or 3.0%, and the sulfur could range from 0.5% to up to 10%, if desired. It should be understood that the upper limits of the sulfur and garlic relate more to the attractive and/or health effect of the mineral supplement, too much sulfur or garlic may actually repel deer from using the supplement. Too much sulfur may also be harmful to an animal.
Another aspect of the invention is the use of effective amounts of the garlic and sulfur in an animal feed for insect repellency. Typically, smaller or reduced amounts of the sulfur and garlic are used when made part of an animal feed since the animal""s intake of the feed is generally much greater in weight percentage than that consumed when ingesting a supplement.